Opposition parties criticised Prime Minister Viktor Orbán over his remarks at the 26th annual Bálványos Summer University). The radical nationalist Jobbik party said that the prime minister should initiate amending the EU’s founding treaty or Hungary’s treaty of accession. Jobbik said that if Orbán “is truly worried for national self-determination in Europe”, he should reinstate the Border Guard ...

Hungary slipped in Freedom House’s democracy ratings for last year, according to the US-based human rights watchdog’s Nations in Transit 2015 report. Hungary was ranked among “semi-consolidated democracies”, slipping from being a “consolidated democracy” last year. It scored an overall 3.18 points for various democratic indicators on a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 being the best score. Last year it ...

Addressing the 10th congress of the Party of European Socialists (PES), the Hungarian Socialist Party’s leader, József Tóbiás, called the politics of hate a dead end. A migration policy based on “internal solidarity” and “shared responsibility” in the EU would lead to a good outcome, he insisted. The Socialists have a common belief that all men are created equal, and no one should be excluded on ...

The ruling Fidesz party labelled the resolution as a “second Tavares report”, but welcomed support from the European People’s Party. “The second Tavares report was passed only with the liberals, the left, the greens and the communists all joining forces,” Fidesz lawmaker Gergely Gulyás said, adding that his party has a clear antiimmigration stance.

The national consultation on the issues of migrants and terrorism will be available online for Hungarian citizens to fill out, the government spokesman, Zoltán Kovács, said. The government is also launching an information campaign setting out the cabinet’s basic position on the matter, including its standpoint that arrivals to Hungary must respect the cultural values and laws of the country and ...

Last weekend independent Hungarian television broadcasted an exclusive interview with former president of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso. Although the interview was conducted in English, it was overdubbed in Hungarian. Unfortunately, the original, undubbed version has yet to be published. The following is based on the Hungarian version.

Political Capital, a think-tank, said Jobbik’s biggest success on Sunday was a critical mass no longer sees the party as extremist. The taboos associated with the party that had kept previously undecided voters away from Jobbik have been broken, the thinktank said.

In the last few days I have been mulling over a lot of topics that I wanted to make available on Hungarian Spectrum, among them key elements of Viktor Orbán’s speech on the “state of the nation” that I did not cover earlier. Specifically, his opinions on multiculturalism, immigration, and political correctness.

Opposition parties criticised Prime Minister Viktor Orbán over his remarks at the 26th annual Bálványos Summer University). The radical nationalist Jobbik party said that the prime minister should initiate amending the EU’s founding treaty or Hungary’s treaty of accession. Jobbik said that if Orbán “is truly worried for national self-determination in Europe”, he should reinstate the Border Guard ...

Hungary slipped in Freedom House’s democracy ratings for last year, according to the US-based human rights watchdog’s Nations in Transit 2015 report. Hungary was ranked among “semi-consolidated democracies”, slipping from being a “consolidated democracy” last year. It scored an overall 3.18 points for various democratic indicators on a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 being the best score. Last year it ...

Addressing the 10th congress of the Party of European Socialists (PES), the Hungarian Socialist Party’s leader, József Tóbiás, called the politics of hate a dead end. A migration policy based on “internal solidarity” and “shared responsibility” in the EU would lead to a good outcome, he insisted. The Socialists have a common belief that all men are created equal, and no one should be excluded on ...

The ruling Fidesz party labelled the resolution as a “second Tavares report”, but welcomed support from the European People’s Party. “The second Tavares report was passed only with the liberals, the left, the greens and the communists all joining forces,” Fidesz lawmaker Gergely Gulyás said, adding that his party has a clear antiimmigration stance.

The national consultation on the issues of migrants and terrorism will be available online for Hungarian citizens to fill out, the government spokesman, Zoltán Kovács, said. The government is also launching an information campaign setting out the cabinet’s basic position on the matter, including its standpoint that arrivals to Hungary must respect the cultural values and laws of the country and ...

Last weekend independent Hungarian television broadcasted an exclusive interview with former president of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso. Although the interview was conducted in English, it was overdubbed in Hungarian. Unfortunately, the original, undubbed version has yet to be published. The following is based on the Hungarian version.

Political Capital, a think-tank, said Jobbik’s biggest success on Sunday was a critical mass no longer sees the party as extremist. The taboos associated with the party that had kept previously undecided voters away from Jobbik have been broken, the thinktank said.

In the last few days I have been mulling over a lot of topics that I wanted to make available on Hungarian Spectrum, among them key elements of Viktor Orbán’s speech on the “state of the nation” that I did not cover earlier. Specifically, his opinions on multiculturalism, immigration, and political correctness.

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